Artificial flower



F. ZElMET ARTIFICAL FLOWER Aug. 1.4, 1934.

Fued oct. 23', 1931 Patented Aug. 14, 1934 UNITEos'r-Arl-:s PATENToFFlcls 1,970,265 Anmromr. FLOWER Frank zeimet, chicago, nl., signoriaAd Seidel & Sons, Chicago, Ill., a. copartnership consisting of LudwigA. Seidel and Walter F. Seidel Application October 23, 1931, Serial No.V570,593 i 4 Claims.

This invention relates to* ornamental articles.

The primary object of the invention is to pro-1 vide new and improvedornamental articles, such as artificial ilowers and the like,-and a newand improved method for making such articles.

Another object of the invention is to provide ornamental articles, suchas articial owers, foliage, and the like, which are made from compositesheets of material and which are dyed various colors to resemble naturalilowers. l

Another object is to provide an ornamental article, such as anartiiicial flower, which is made from relatively clear, transparentmaterial of the type which is commonly known as regenerated V cellulose,the regenerated cellulose being compressed to maken composite sheet fromwhich the articles are made.

A further object is to provide ornamental articles which are made from acomposite sheet composed of several individual sheets which are treated,hdyed, and cut to the desired shape to make an ornamental andattractivearticle. 1

Numerous other objects and advantages will be vapparent throughout theprogress of the following specication. y

The accompanying drawing illustrates a selected embodiment of theinvention and the views therein are as follows: Fig. l is a detailperspective view of one of the ornamental articles which, in the presentlnstance, represents a blooming plant.

Fig. 2 is a detail plan View of one of the leaves showing the manner inwhich various parts constituting the ornamental article yare, formed torepresent the original article. Fig. 3 is a detail plan view of one ofthe leaves `showing the manner in which the stem mayv be attached to theleaf and also showing the brightness, glossiness, or shinyness of theleaf. v

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view on the line 4-4 oi. Fig. 3. Fig. 5 isa detail sectional view showing the manner in which the stems areattached tothe leavea Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view on the line 64BI or Fig. 1.

Fig. 'l is a detail sectional 'view of a' different kind of a newershowing the in which the Y blossom is connected'to the stem.

The ornamental article which, in the embodiment shown, is an. articialilower, comprises a stem 1 made up of an outer tubular section 2 intowhich inner reinforcing members or wires 3 are arranged. The outerportion 2 is preferably-a wrapping of suitable paper, cloth, or othermaterial wound around the supporting stays or wires 3, Fig. 6` Theflowers or blossoms 4 comprise a plurality of petals 5 and the pistils6. Each blossom 4 is fixed to the stem l by providing an enlargementunderneath the blossom as indicated 'en at '1 and an upper bead 8, theblossom being fixed between the enlargement or lower bead 'I and theenlargement or u'pper bead 8. In Eig. 6 the retaining wire 3 'is woundaround as indicated at 9 and extends above the base of the blossom.while 65 in Fig. 'l a bead isiixed to the end of the wire 3 and the wireis wound around the bottom of the blossom, as indicated at 10. I

Leaves 11 are fastened to auxiliary stems `12 which. are fastened to themain stem 1. The stems 12 comprise a wire. 13 which'may be covered withwound silk as indicated at 14,4 Fig. 5, the free end of the wire passingthrough a hole 15 in the leaf and then returning on the opposite side ofthe leaf. Suitable material 16 is wound 75 around the stems 12 wherethefree end of the wire joins, as clearly shown in Fig. 5.

The petals 5 and the leaves l1 are made from a composite sheet 17 asindicated in rig.- 4. The composite sheetcomprises' a plurality ofrsepa- 30 rate sheets 18 which are fastened together inl a manner to belater explained. Inthe prese 4"t embodiment shown, the composite sheet17 cornprises six separate and independent layers of material 18. Thesheets or layers 18 are pref- 85 erably made of clear, transparentmaterial which is commercially known as regenerated cellulose. In makinga composite sheet, sixlayers of regenerated cellulose '18 are heldtogether and immersed in a dye solution which solution is gq) preferablyat a temperature of to 120. The six sheets are held in overlappingor-stackeol formation and all of them dipped in the' solution for a.period ranging from two to ilve minutes. The six sheets, after they areremoved from the gg dye solution, are -wrung out like a rag, then shakenout and hung up to remove the wrinkles therefrom. After the six stackedsheets are suifciently dried, they are then dampened and nattened out atwhich time they will beready to we cut. In the cutting operation thecomposite sheet, comprising the six stacked individual sheets, is put ina die and cut to the desired ic and configuration depending upon thearticie being made. The composite sheet,which is ccm- 105 posed of sixstacked sheets, when cut, will io a single homogeneous highly coloredshiny article. The phenomena caused by. they above de scribed operationprovides leaves, petals, or other ornamental articles which contain aparticular il@ brightness, shininess, and particular color combination.While the colorings of the dye vary for making different articles, therewill be present a sort of a mother-of-pearl hue. In other Words, if pinkowersare made, the predominating color will be pink but there will be aclear, shiny mother-of-pearl cast on the petals. Also,

. in making the leaves, which leaves are generally colored green, thepredorninating color is green but there is a transparency to the leavesand the mother-of-pearl cast is present. lIn practice, articles, such asleaves and petals, have been made from aA single sheet of materal, suchas regenerated cellulose, but it has been found that the resultantarticle will be too clear, will not color correctly, and will not cutproperly in the die. While it is desirable that the article betranslucent or even relatively transparent, it is more desirable thatthe articles have a particular `color to imitate the natural article butwith a particular cast or hue. The particular cast or hue of thearticles is striking particularly when an artificial light shines uponthem.

By making the article in the composite form, a certain clearness exists,a particular hue or cast is obtainable, and the imitativecharacteristics of the article are purely representative of the'realarticle which it is intended to reproduce artificially. When it isdesired to have relatively clear green transparent articles or leaves,the dye is omitted from the bath, in other words, no coloring isinserted in the solution in which the composite sheet is dipped.

The dye solution can be practically any liquid dye, the strength ofwhich is varied depending upon the amount of coloring matter desired inthe finished article. However, it is preferable that the liquid solutionbe at a temperature ranging somewhere between 110 to 120 and that thetime of immersion be anywhere from two to five minutes. In cases whereit is desired to have the articles, such as petals and leaves, lefttransparent, the stacked sheets forming the composite sheet, are dippedinto hot water the temperature of which is the same as the dye solutionranging from 110 to 120. It has been found that the stacked sheets,forming a composite sheet, will form a practically homogeneous article,which homogeneous article,

when cut, fails to reveal the laminations. However, if the dies permit,several composite sheets may be cut at the same time. In actual practiceten of these composite sheets have been cut at the same time and the tencomposite sheets were easily and readily separable but the individualsheets composing the laminated sheets would not separate.

In dipping the six sheets to form a composite sheet, the sheets are heldin position just like a stack of six ordinary sheets of paper would beheld. Evidently the sticking or adhering qualities of the individualregenerated cellulose sheets are such that the dipping and drying actioncauses them to adhere tightly together. While it is herein mentionedthat six sheets have been used to form Ithe composite or laminatedsheet,

two to more than six.

It is known that regenerated cellulose will burn but by putting a smallquantity of salt in the dye solution or the hot water depending onwhether or not the articles are to be colored, it is found that thecomposite sheet will not burn, at any rate it will not burn nearly asfast as it would if the salt were eliminated.

.As shown in the drawing and particularlyin j Figs. 1 and 6, a pluralityof leaves or petals 19 are arranged in rosette formation beneath theblossom 4, and this rosette arrangement is held between the bottom ofthe blossom and the bead .theleaves are attached to the stem and themanner in which the blossom petals are fastened to the stem provides anarticle which, While not only 4highly attractive and ornamental, managesto sustain its yoriginal shape, appearance and beauty regardless ofvariations in temperature.

Changes may be made in lthe form, construction, and arrangement of theparts without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificingany of its advantages, and the right is hereby reserved to make all suchchanges as fairly fall within the scope of the following claims.

The invention is hereby claimed as follows:

1. An artificial flower comprising a stem, a blossom made of laminatedregenerated cellulose and connected to said stem, a second stemconnected to the rst stem, a leaf made of laminated regeneratedcellulose and having a hole therein, said second stem passing throughsaid hole for holding the' leaf to the second stem.

2. An artificial flower comprising a stem,.a blossom having its petalsmade of laminated sheets of .relatively clear regenerated cellulose andconnectedto said stem, a second stem connected to the first stem, a leafmade of laminated sheets of relatively clear regenerated cellulose ll.4An article of manufacture artificially representing a flower or foliageincluding a unit of tinted laminated regenerated cellulose marginallycongurated in accordance with the outline of the fiower or foliage to berepresented, the laminated structure having a tint corresponding withthe ower or foliage to be represented and imparting -a mother-of-pearlappearance to the surface of the article.

